18 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
hasten to abjure any thought of such a conclusion for there are a con- 
siderable number of factors which need not be considered here but which 
will doubtless operate effectually to negative the apparent logic of the 
situation. In fact it would be a most extraordinary thing if even the 
roughest approximation to such a conclusion could be obtained. But 
how far can the theory reasonably be pushed? At what point will we 
be compelled to witness that ‘‘saddest of all spectacles, a beautiful 
theory slain by a fact?’’ 
The only way to answer such questions is by the examination of a 
complete collection of the parasites of all the mammals, and the ob- 
taining of such a collection is no easy matter. An approximation to a 
complete collection from the smaller mammals may eventually be 
obtained by the examination of the skins in the collections of our muse- 
ums. The present writer, through the kindness of the authorities of 
the National Museum and the Field Columbian Museum, has been 
permitted to examine the collections in these two museums with most 
gratifying results. Just how gratifying the results were may be judged 
from the fact that when the work on the material thus gathered is 
complete our knowledge of these parasites will be more than doubled. 
But the parasites of the larger mammals can not be procured in this 
manner for the tanning and cleaning of the skins leaves at the most 
nothing but an occasional egg glued to a hair to tantalize the enthusias- 
tic louse collector with visions of what previously must have been there. 
It seems that the only way to obtain material from the larger mam- 
mals is through the interest of those by whom they are killed and it is 
with the hope of arousing this interest that this note is written. How 
scanty our information concerning the parasites of the larger mammals 
is may be judged by the fact that of North American mammals alone 
we do not know any of the lice of the caribou, elk, moose, bison, musk 
ox, bears, wolves, wolverine, otter, fisher or any of the cats other than 
the wild cat. In other words our ignorance of the lice of the larger 
mammals is almost complete. 
The rapid disappearance of these larger species makes it imperative 
that anything that is to be done shall be done soon and this is an appeal 
to those who may have an opportunity to examine any of these larger 
species to do so. But little care is necessary in preserving material, 
dried specimens being as valuable as any others. A few lice entangled 
in a mat of hair and dropped into an envelope may serve to fill up the 
gaps in our knowledge and reduce the list of host names in the ‘^un- 
known” column. 
Stanford University, California. 
